General: Perennial herb from stout, branched, woody stem-base and fibrous roots; stems 1 to several, erect, 40-100 cm tall, usually branched, sparsely-hairy.
Leaves: All stem leaves (one very low, and 1 or 2 mid- or upper-stem leaves), alternate, long-stalked, 2 to 3 times divided in threes or pinnately compound, the segments egg-shaped, (2) 3-9 cm long, the margins sharply cleft, irregularly toothed.
Flowers: Inflorescence of terminal and axillary, many-flowered racemes, the flowers radially symmetric; flower stalks 5-8 mm long; petals 5-10, white to cream-coloured, 2-3.5 mm long, egg- to spoon-shaped, clawed; sepals 3 to 5, early deciduous, petal-like, round, whitish- or purplish-green, 2-4 mm long; pistil 1; stamens many, longer than the petals.
Fruits: Berries, red or sometimes white, widely ellipsoid, 5-11 mm long; stalks 6-15 mm long; seeds brown, cone- to wedge-shaped, 3-3.5 mm long, surface wrinkled.
Notes: Fruit toxic to humans. The plant is usually red-fruited, however, the white-fruited forma neglecta (Gillman) Robins. can be more common in some localities.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2008)
A shade-tolerant, submontane to subalpine, transcontinental North American forb. Occurs on fresh to very moist, nitrogen-rich soils within boreal, cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates. Its occurrence increases with increasing precipitation and continentality. Occasional in broad-leaved forests on water-receiving (alluvial, floodplain, seepage, and stream-edge) sites. A nitrophytic species characteristic of Moder and Mull humus forms.
Moist to mesic streambanks, woodlands and forests in the lowland and montane zones; frequent throughout BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to NJ, OH, SD, NM, AZ and CA.
